She unfroze the Seers head, the Seer glared at them all as the Charmed Ones read the spell. "Evil Seer in my sight vanquish thyself, vanquish thy might in this day and night."

The Seer screamed as her body burst into fire and slowly faded away. The others stood looking at the spot, when Cole revealed something he thought he never would with two words. "Goodbye Mother."

Phoebe looked at him. "Mother?"

Cole nodded his head. "Yes, the Seer was my Mother, but I don't want to talk about that now, we have more important things to do."

Piper shook her head to clear it. "Right, So who is gonna be the anchor and who is gonna be the guide?"

Leo cleared his throat. "Well traditionally the anchor was someone whom the person trusted and loved." Everyone looked at Xander; he nodded his head that he would do it.

Leo continued. "I suppose the Guide could be anybody really. Buffy do you have a preference?"

Buffy looked at them all but she kept coming back to Cole for some reason she trusted him and knew he would be the best on this quest. He had been a demon for a long time and knew his away around the supernatural plus he was strong.

"I think I want Cole to be my guide on this."

Everyone was surprised but didn't argue as they had a lot to do, Willow and Tara started laying out the circle they would need as the Charmed Ones went over the spells again, the spell to open the door to the Slayers Quest and the other was to open the eyes of the Guide. When the circle was done, Cole stepped into one and waited as the Charmed Ones started to chant.

"In the name of the Goddess, he is blessed. Like a flower he shall open and grow. With this spell he will command the unseen to be shown, as the guide and companion of our chosen champion."

As the spell ended a silver light formed around Cole then disappeared, showing the spell had worked. Buffy stepped into the circle with him as Leo issued some last minute advice.

"I've only heard of the Quest of Slayer, but from what I have heard you will encounter visions and ghost from your past that will direct you on your way. Be careful!"

Cole and Buffy nodded as the girls started the spell to open the door.

"Take this warrior, our chosen champion to her quest, her companion with her, together they are bound and together they shall enter the world of the unseen and only together can they leave. And return to us."

As they finished speaking, a door formed and then opened Buffy stepped through followed by Cole, then the Door snapped shut and vanished behind them.

Xander stared at the spot where the love of his life had been and wished her luck.

After the door closed Buffy and Cole had dropped to the ground and looked around, to the left they saw a barren desert (think of the desert when Buffy went on the quest in season five), to the right a forest.

Buffy took a breath. "Well Cole which way do we go?"

Cole looked around and stared at the desert, he so wanted to avoid that. "Let's go right."

Buffy nodded and started off, Cole right beside her. As they entered the forest it got dimmer and the trees seemed to be dead as if in winter.

Cole was quiet for a while, then asked. "Buffy why did you want me as your guide?"
Buffy looked at him for a second. "I'm not sure Cole, I had this gut feeling and if there's one thing I learned as the Slayer it's to follow your gut."

They stopped talking as they approached a fork in the road, not sure which way to go they stared down the left fork and were just turning that way when a caramel complicated woman appeared.

Buffy gasped. "Kendra?"

Cole narrowed his eyes. "Who's Kendra?"

"She was the Slayer called when I died the first time, Drusilla killed her."

Kendra smiled. "Buffy you have chosen a difficult but admirable path to walk, out of the long line of slayers only one other has ever passed this test. I am the first of many that will appear to guide you on the way but be careful this realm is filled with danger. You will want to continue down this path but a warning, the other Guides will challenge you and you must best them to get their information."

Kendra disappeared just as silently as she had appeared, Cole and Buffy started Moving on down the path. Cole looked at her. "Buffy tell me what it's like to be a Slayer?"

Meanwhile back at the Manor, when Buffy had walked through the door an odd thing happened to Xander, he went into a trance, when Willow went to snap him out of it Leo stopped her. "No Willow, he linked to Buffy so that if there is any danger or risk to them he can break the spell and pull them out."

Willow Stepped back, with a worried look on her face, just as the doorbell rang. Piper huffed out a breath and went to see who it was, she was gone a second when she came back with Patty and Prue. Phoebe, Paige and Tara went to hug and say hello when Piper decided it was time to tell them her secret.

"I'm pregnant."

Everyone stopped and looked at her, a pin drop could be heard, just as Grams appeared and said. "What!"

Buffy hadn't answered him right away but thought on it for a minute. "Well from everything I have learned and heard, when a Slayer is first called she should feel a rush of power and strength, I never felt any different, I mean yeah I could sense vamps now and there was the dreams but until Merrick came I didn't realize that I was different or that I was destined to save the world on a daily basis. I hated it at first and still apart of me does hate it, but I have learned to accept it. I was never your typical Slayer; I had a life, friends, and family. I wouldn't give that up. Hell I even quit the Counsel for a while, after the End of Day's when the essence was removed from me, that was when I realized how big a part of my life slaying had become and I missed it."

Cole nodded his head but before he could speak they had come to the end of the forest and what they saw in front of them took their breath away, it was a waterfall that looked like it dropped a few thousand feet, a wooden bridge spanned the length of it, Buffy sighed. "No way it's gonna be this easy, come on Cole."

As she stepped onto the bridge, suddenly a shaggy beast appeared before them and growled. "Slayer."

Buffy did a double take. "Roland."

Roland nodded his head. "Buffy, it has been a long time. But now it seems I have been chosen to issue the first challenge, remember Buffy whatever happens, I will not die, but if something should happen to either of you, the other will not be able to leave."

A quarter staff appeared in Buffy's hands as did one in Roland's, Cole looked a little worried. "Buffy what is he?"
Roland seemed to hear him and looked him over. "I am the Erl King, Lord of the Wild Hunt," he turned to Buffy, "Slayer are you ready?"

Buffy just nodded and attacked they went blow for blow spanning the length of the bridge, neither gaining the upper hand. Buffy swept at Roland's feet and than faked a move to his middle and knocked him off his feet, pushing the end of her staff into his chest.

"I won."

Roland smiled or what could pass for a smile. "I had no doubt that you wouldn't," he stood up and followed Buffy back to Cole, "you fought just as beautifully as I remembered, like you were dancing."

Buffy smiled. "How is Treasure doing?"

Roland smiled thinking of his Queen. "Wonderful, she just gave me a daughter to go along with the son we have. Now Buffy continue over the bridge but be careful, the dangers in this world are many and will get worse as you get closer to finishing the Quest. As I said over the bridge, at the fork, well your guide shall know what to do."

Roland disappeared as Kendra had, Cole shook his head. "Buffy you keep some strange company."

Buffy just laughed as they started over the bridge. "This from an ex demon, who fell in love with the woman he was suppose to have killed."

Cole smiled, and Buffy looked at him with curios look on her face. "Cole tell me what it was like growing up with a mother like the Seer."

"What," Grams said again, "you're going to have a baby!"

Piper nodded while looking at Leo for a reaction, he was quiet for a second till his face split into a big old grin and he swung Piper up in his arms. "We're gonna have a baby."

Paige and Phoebe smiled, thinking of the Niece they were to have. Piper smiled then went serious. "But how are we supposed to protect her, Grams we are going up against the Elders\Powers."

Grams was quiet. "Well I am pretty sure there is a spell for something like this in the book because we used it when Patty first got pregnant with Prue. It protects the baby from all outside harm until it is born."

Piper and the others scrambled for the book to look through it for the spell. As a happy Patty contemplated being a Grandmother, Grams floated over to Patty and smiled. "Our baby is having a baby of her own."

Patty and Grams started crying quietly, when Grams looked up. "Oh I have news about Buffy," she said glancing at Xander who was still in a trance, "she has passed the first challenge and they are both okay."

Willow and Tara let a small sigh and looked at Xander, they had moved him to a chair and into a sitting position but it was getting late, and who knew how long Buffy and Cole would be.

Cole looked at Buffy and sighed, as they started over the bridge, he began to speak. "It was never easy, after she left my father and returned to the demon world, she got even more demanding, she did a good job of stripping me of my humanity when I was young. As I grew older and more powerful than her I stopped listening to her, but she was proud of the fact that I worked my way up the demonic chain, so fast I ended up being one of the Sources favorite demons. That all changed when I was ordered to kill the Charmed Ones. I fill in love with Phoebe almost right away; my mother saw this and was..."

He stopped talking and looked at Buffy. "I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Buffy understood and remained silent each lost in there own thoughts. When they came to the fork in the road, Cole clutched his head and fill to his knees, Buffy looked at him worried until his eye's cleared. "What the hell was that, you okay Cole?"

"He will be fine." Said a familiar voice

Buffy looked up and saw Kendra standing there, in a beautiful gown, that was medieval in style, it was white, off the shoulder, it fit snug to the waist where it flared out straight down to her feet, where she was wearing satin shoes. Her long ebony hair usually in a braid down her back was piled on her head in a complicated mass. Buffy's eyes went wide.

"Kendra you look beautiful."

Kendra smiled, and then remembered Cole. "Your guide will be fine, he has received powers that will enable him to be a better guide," She turned to Cole who was just now standing up, "The powers you have been given are permanent and will be with you when you leave this world."

Cole looked at his hands, then to the ground. "What powers was I given?"

"The Omega has decided that since the Vampire Angel has a seer and the other slayer Faith, has a Champion. That you would become the seer for Buffy should she get her powers back. You will have visions, Cole. As your mother did, you will be able to control them," She turned back to Buffy, "You defeated Roland, but your last two challenges will be by far the hardest. Good luck Buffy, I wish you well on the rest of your journey."

Then Kendra disappeared and Buffy sighed. "Well Cole which way do we go?"
Cole looked towards the mountain. "We should head towards there."

Buffy nodded and turned down the path towards the large mountain, and started walking to it with Cole falling into step with her. Each lost in thought, Cole of his new powers and new responsibility, Buffy about the coming challenges she would have to face; they walked along time before they decided to rest at the base of the mountain. Buffy sat on the boulder, while Cole leaned against it. Buffy looked around her and took in the beauty of this place.

Cole's thoughts were more on the line of the slayer there had to have been one before Buffy. "Buffy what do you know, about the slayer that came before you?"

Buffy looked at Cole startled for a moment. "All I know is her name was India Cohen; I never wanted to know any more about her. She died so that I could go on saving the world."

"So true," said a new voice, "and you turned out to be a far better chosen one then I ever was."

Buffy turned her head and saw a small compact girl about her height, with very dark brown hair. "Who are you?"

The girl smiled. "I am the one that died so you could go on saving the world, I am India Cohen."

Buffy's green eyes widened and her mouth opened in shock, Cole just shook his head. India looked at Cole. "You were once a demon, I know this as I know all things in this realm," she turned to Buffy, "You have progressed far more than I did as a Slayer, you have realized that nothing is as ever as black and white as it seems, that there are shades of gray. You have loved and have been loved by a vampire and you know that some demons are not hell bent on destroying the world." India brushed a hand down her blue gown, that in an instant changed into a pair of tight jeans and a halter top, "I am here to issue your next challenge and to make things interesting." The dead slayer waved her hand and Cole appeared in a cage hanging over a deep ravine, with a flame licking at the cord that held it. "You must best me in order to save your guide."

That said India launched herself at Buffy, and sent her flying against the Mountain, Buffy stood to her feet just as the other the slayer came at her, they traded blows each dodging the others attacks, they were well matched, but Buffy was THE slayer, Prophecy had been written about her, and she would not die in this world, India had made a mistake in threatening Cole because that was the one thing that made Buffy work that much harder was threatening her family. Buffy jumped in the air and landed a spinning roundhouse kick to India's head, the other slayer dropped to the ground, Buffy put her foot on India's chest and looked to the rope holding Cole's cage, the rope was almost burned through, she looked back at India. "Release him."

India didn't say a word but waved her hand and Cole was safely standing next to her. Buffy removed her foot and helped India to her feet, India smiled. "You are truly THE slayer; you have much more to do in your world. Your destiny awaits you. You think you know what you are, who you are, you don't know you haven't even begun."

India disappeared leaving Buffy and Cole alone. "Cole lets go I want to get this very fun quest over with." So said they started walking up the mountain.

At the manor, the others were sitting lost in their own thoughts, when a demon appeared. Tara jumped to her feet and threw it across the room, while Willow ran to protect Xander. Piper threw up her hands and froze the Demon. "What in the hell is that thing."

Leo had been oddly quiet tell now. "It's begun, that used to be a messenger for the Elders."

Just then the demon unfroze and sent Piper flying into Leo knocking them both over, Phoebe jumped to her feet and threw her hand to the sky, a bolt of lightning flew into her palm and she threw it at the demon destroying it where it stood. Paige hurried over to Leo and Piper to see if they were okay, while Phoebe stared at her hand then said. "Buffy, Cole where ever you are you need to hurry back, we need you."

They had walked the winding path up the mountain till they came to a clearing to rest, just as they sat down. Kendra once again appeared, this time her gown was scarlet in color and her long hair hung down her back, on her head she wore a tiara. She smiled at Buffy and Cole. "I know you have questions, and as requested by The Omega I am here to answer them."

Buffy started pacing. "Twice now I have been told you think you know who you are, what you are. You don't know, you haven't even begun. What the hell does that mean?"

Kendra smiled. "Buffy, it means simply that your destiny still awaits you, that you don't know what you're capable of yet."

Cole watched Buffy pacing, then looked to Kendra. "The other Slayer, India. Said that Buffy was THE chosen one. What did she mean?"

Kendra walked to a rock and sat down. "Buffy is a prophecy Slayer, simply put. The Omega made Buffy more pure in her power gave her more than the other slayers, because they knew that this battle was coming and she would be needed."

Kendra stood from the rock. "You have no more time to ask questions, and I have no more time to answer them. You should continue, up the mountain to your last challenge."

Then Kendra disappeared, leaving in her place a crescent moon wand and a note.

Champions,

The wand before you is called the crescent moon wand; it will be needed in the battle with the Elders\powers. You must seek out the savior and place the wand in her hands. Once the wand is placed in her hands the Silver Imperium Crystal shall appear.

Buffy looked at the note then picked up the wand and the nap-sack that appeared next to it, she put the wand in the sack, glanced at Cole and they started back up the mountain. As they neared the top it got too dark for them to see so they made a fire, and sat down to wait for the sunrise, Buffy figured they had been in this crazy world for a day and a half, she wanted it over. Kendra had said she had one more challenge and she wondered who it was.

Cole glanced at the blond slayer. "Buffy what do you make of this Savior?"

"Cole I wish I knew, none of this makes sense, the prophecy didn't say anything about a savior or a wand."

They lapsed into silence again, and watched as the sun rose over the mountain, they stood and put out the fire and continued up the mountain, it was a hard hike up an uneven rocky path, as they neared another large clearing; a woman who looked remarkably like Buffy appeared. "I have been waiting for you."

Buffy nodded. "So you are the last challenge and I'm guessing a Slayer too."

The blond woman nodded her head. "I am Lucy Hanover, the only Slayer besides you to have lost her powers and then to take this quest to retrieve them."

Cole stepped forward. "The spell to open the door to here is in the Halliwell Book of Shadow's, you would have had to have known a Warren to get that spell."

"Yes, I was friendly with a descendant of Melinda Warren's, her granddaughter Grace." Lucy turned to Buffy. "It is time you must best me in battle to finish this quest."

Buffy didn't give her time to finish talking and launched herself at the other slayer, they fought back and forth, both of them evenly matched, until Lucy rammed both fists into Buff's chest and sent her flying, she skidded over the mountain barely holding on by her finger tips, she couldn't get a good grip to pull herself up and Cole was barred from helping her. Then she felt hands grip her and pull her up, she Lucy as she climbed back on to the clearing, they resumed fighting with out a word, until Buffy realized something, to best her didn't necessarily mean to win in a fight, sometimes a slayer need to know when to admit defeat. She dropped her hands and faced Lucy.

Lucy smiled widely. "So you at last learned the lesson, all of us have been trying to teach you since you entered this world. That even as the Slayer you are but a simple human girl, who can't always save everyone."

Buffy looked surprised. "So I won?"

"You have won, the essence awaits you at the top of the mountain, you have completed you quest, I have been granted a look into your future and am allowed to answer one question."

Buffy looked surprised and wasn't sure what to ask. "If I have a daughter will she be a Slayer."

Lucy smiled. "You shall have a daughter, and she will be a combination of Slayer and her father the White Knight. She to will have a destiny not as the Slayer, but connected just the same."

That said Lucy disappeared, Buffy walked to Cole and looked at the bend that lead to the end of this journey. Cole smiled. "I guess the Japanese were right when they said a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Buffy started laughing as they walked the last mile to the final clearing; they saw a desert, a roaring fire and a figure on the other side of the fire. Cole cocked his head. "Who is that?"

Buffy sighed. "I should have known, she is the first Slayer."

The first slayer in her way invited them to sit, once they had, she spoke. "Love brought you to your gift."

Buffy shook her head. "You said death was my gift."

"Death was your gift to the world, Love for your family and friends and the world brought you here and lead you to this gift."

The first slayer raised her hand and in it was a glowing ball of energy. "This is the essence, and it is yours as it was never mine. I became the slayer by choice, and you because you shared my blood as all slayers do was chosen to protect the world from things that they don't believe in any more. Your destiny awaits you."

The first Slayer released the essence and it flowed into Buffy, then the First Slayer disappeared, as a door appeared in front of Buffy and Cole. Cole looked at Buffy. "So are you all right."
Buffy smiled. "It's good to be me again."

T.B.C.

AN2; the Crescent Moon wand and the Imperium Silver Crystal do not belong to me, they belong to Sailor Moon